How to View a Deleted Search History
Even when you delete your Internet history, your computer keeps records of the websites that you visit in a file called the index.dat file. Although you can manually locate the index.dat file on your computer, it is often a series of unintelligible letters and numbers. You can download a special program that deciphers the index.dat files on your computer and allows you to view deleted search history.
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Instructions
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Use Index.dat Analyzer
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Download Index.dat Analyzer and save it to your desktop. Double-click on the file and follow the prompts to install the software on your computer.
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Open Index.dat Analyzer by double-clicking on the shortcut icon on your desktop or clicking on "Start" and clicking on the program from the "All Programs" menu.
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Select "History" from the location drop-down menu to see a listing of all your history (deleted and undeleted). Note that you can also view deleted and undeleted Internet cookies and the cache or add different search locations to the list using the "+" button next to the "Location" field.
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Place a check next to the items that you want to delete or save, if any. Right click any item and select "Check all" to check everything. Click on the red "X" in the top left to delete selected items or the blue "diskette" icon to save selected history.
Use Index.dat Scanner
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Download Index.dat Scanner and save it to your desktop. Double-click on the file and follow the prompts to install the software on your computer.
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Open Index.dat Scanner by double-clicking on the shortcut icon on your desktop or clicking on "Start" and clicking on the program from the "All Programs" menu.
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Save the log by clicking "Save Log" if you want to save a readable copy of the contents of your index.dat file. Note that Index.dat Scanner does not allow you to delete Index.dat files. Click "Exit" when you are finished.
Use Index.dat Suit
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Download Index.dat Scanner and save it to your desktop. Double-click on the file and follow the prompts to install the software on your computer.
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Open Index.dat Scanner by double-clicking on the shortcut icon on your desktop or clicking on "Start" and clicking on the program from the "All Programs" menu.
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Enter the name of the file that you want to search for in the "Search for" box. By default Index.dat Suite is set up to search for the "index.dat" file, however you can configure the program to search for other files on your computer.
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Click on the drop-down box in the "Search in" field to select what drives to search for the index.dat file. You can customize the exact search folder by clicking the button to the right of the drop-down box and browsing to the folder that you want to search in. Note that this can be useful if you have other .dat files that you want to access.
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Click on "Find" to start the search. Right-click on the index.dat files that are found and select "View file contents" then click on "Using internet viewer." A new window will open displaying the contents of the index.dat file.
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Place check marks next to the index.dat files that you want to delete, if any, and click on the button with the picture of a command console (second button at the top). Click "OK" and restart your computer to delete the index.dat files.
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